MLK monument is reminder of sacrifices of so many, black and white

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C., is slated to open Aug. 28 — the anniversary of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 in this same city.

“America has been waiting for it since Dr. King was assassinated,” columnist Rochelle Riley wrote for the Detroit Free Press. “America has been waiting for it since before he was born. America has been waiting while reaching for the idea that someone might come along and galvanize the nation, raise voices for the poor, not just black, but poor of every color.”

She sees many more than just King in the statue. Harriet Tubman and Thurgood Marshall to name a few.

“My hope now is that millions look at that statue and see themselves and recognize in an instant that we must reclaim the sense of pride and ownership and education that people — black, white, male, female — fought for,” she wrote. “Every person who eschews freedom and education and pride to, instead, live like a criminal or an idiot or a bigot throws mud on the dream and spits on the blood of those who died to make sure black people could vote and poor people could do better.

“Medgar Evers, whose life ended in his driveway. Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, whose lives ended in a Mississippi woods.

“And King himself, whose life ended on the balcony of a Memphis motel. …

“The statue tells us to continue a movement whose leaders sometimes need to be reminded of the goal.”

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About The Author

Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., runs Journey to Justice, a blog that explores the intersection of justice and culture in this place we call the United States​. His work has helped put four Klansmen behind bars, including the assassin of NAACP leader Medgar Evers in 1963 and the man who orchestrated the Klan’s 1964 killings of three civil rights workers. His latest stories have helped lead to the arrest of serial killer suspect Felix Vail — the last known person seen with three women. Mitchell, a 2009 MacArthur fellow, is writing a book on cold cases from the civil rights era.